Starting to Solve the Puzzle
by TheAngelOfTimeDeducesMyHead
Summary: A bunch of fluffy one-shots with Sherlock and my OC Lyra. These are what I like to call the love child of stress and the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack.
1. That's All I Ask of You

**A/N: Hello my loves!**

**These little one-shots are what I like to call "what happens when I listen to the 'Phantom of the Opera' soundtrack and studying/stressing out over exams." **

**I feel sorry for all the people who had to take exams in college. I've witnessed what that does to you. **

**Kid!lock yay! Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Lyra.**

* * *

That's All I Ask of You

"Lyra," nine year-old Sherlock calls through door, "can I come in?"

"No!" she yells back.

"Oh, come on, Lyra, please." he begs. After a few moments of silence, he hears the five year-old's faint sigh and mumbled "okay." He grins and opens the door to see his Little Lottie curled up in a ball on her bed. Her curly blonde hair is pulled back by the pink ribbon she always insists on wearing and is clutching her bear "Pink Bear" to her chest.

"Are you thinking about her again?" he asks and she nods. Lyra's mother disappeared about a year ago and Lyra was left to live with the Holmes family. Sherlock and Lyra's mothers were wonderful friends, so, Lyra was taken in immediately.

"Sherlock, can you sing with me?" she asks tentatively.

"Of course I will!" He smiles at her and goes and sits on her bed, "What do you want to sing."

"'All I Ask of You!'" she exclaims.

He sighs, "But, we always sing 'All I Ask of You.' Don't you want to sing something different for once?" She just stares at him like that was the stupidest question in the world. "Okay."

"Yay!" she exclaims and throws her arms around her friend. "Thank you! Thank you!" She squeezes him and peppers his face with kisses, "You're absolutely, positively, amazingly the most awesomest person ever in the whole wide universe, Sherlock Holmes!"

He giggles, she says that every single time.

"Well, start!" she commands, she's very bossy for a little one.

He smiles, "_No more talk of darkness/ Forget these wide-eyed fears/ I'm here, nothing can harm you/ My words will warm and calm you._

"_Let me be your freedom/ Let daylight dry your tears/ I'm here, with you beside you/ To guard you and to guide you._"

She smiles the biggest smile that could be on a five year old, "_Say you'll love me every waking moment/ Turn my head with talk of summer time/ Say you need me with you now and always/ Promise me that all you say is true/ That's all I ask of you._"

He pulls her in his lap and hugs her to him, "_Let me be your shelter/ Let me be your light/ You're safe, no one will find you/ Your fears are far behind you._"

She grabs his hand, "_All I want is freedom/ A world with no more night/ And you, always beside me/ To hold me and to hide me._"

"_Then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime/ Let me lead you from your solitude/ Say you need me with you here, beside you/ Anywhere you go let me go too/ Lyra, that's all I ask of you._"

Her smile can't possibly grow any bigger, but with the use of her name it does, "_Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime/ Say the word and I will follow you._"

Her eyes light up as they sing in unison, "_Share each day with me, each night, each morning._"

She turns to look at her friend and presses a kiss to his cheek, "_Say you love me._"

"_You know I do._"

They hug each other as they sing in unison again, _"Love me, that's all I ask of you._" Sherlock pulls back and smiles at her and she ruffles his hair, "_Anywhere you go, let me go too/ Love me, that's all I ask of you._"

She sinks back into her friends arms and smiles contentedly.

"Are you feeling better now?" he asks her. She smiles and nods and they fall into a comfortable silence, just cuddling in each other's arms.

"Sherlock." Lyra says quietly, breaking the silence.

"Mm?"

"You're my bestest friend ever and I love you very, very much."

He chuckles, "I love you too, Little Lottie."

"Why do you always call me 'Little Lottie?'" she asks him.

"That's what Raoul calls Christine."

"So if I'm Christine.,," she starts slowly, "does that make you my Raoul?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm your Raoul." and he kisses the top of her head.

"Sherlock," she yawns, "I'm sleepy."

"Do you want me to tuck you in and leave?"

She shakes her head, "No. Can you sleep with me? Please, that's all I ask of you."

He smiles at her, "Of course."

He lies her down on her bed and settles her in besides her. He grabs her Pink Bear and puts it in between them. Later they are both fast asleep, embracing each other.

* * *

**A/N: I haven't given up on Puzzle Pieces That Fit Together. It's coming along slowly but surely. **


	2. Help Me Say Goodbye

**A/N: Don't really have anything to say. This is just another one of my stress/POTO love child things. **

**Disclaimer: Only thing I own is Lyra. **

* * *

Help Me Say Goodbye

"... _you were somehow here again/ Wishing you were somehow near/ Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed/ somehow you would be here._"

Sherlock stops in front of Lyra's bedroom door when he hears her singing. He doesn't bother to knock; just opens the door and sees the fourteen year-old lying on her bed staring at the ceiling.

"_Wishing I could hear your voice again/ Knowing that I never would/ Dreaming of you won't help me do/ All that I dreamed I could._"

"Little Lottie, what's wrong?" Sherlock asks her.

She ignores him and keeps singing, "_Passing bells and sculpted angels/ Cold and monumental/ Seem for you the wrong companions/ You were warm and gentle._"

"Lyra Morgan, I know for a fact that is your 'I'm upset and feel like shit, so, kill me now' song. What's wrong?"

"Don't interrupt my singing!" she snaps and sings again.

"_Too many years fighting back tears/ Why can't the past just die?/ Wishing you were somehow here again/ Knowing we must say 'Goodbye'/ Try to forgive, teach me to live/ Give me the strength to try/ No more memories, no more silent tears/ No more gazing across the wasted years/ Help me say 'Goodbye'/ Help me say 'Goodbye.'_"

"Are you going to tell what's wrong now?" Sherlock asks her.

She sighs, "I'm cursed."

He looks down at her, confused, "Cursed?"

"Did I stutter?" she asks sarcastically, "Yes, Sherlock, cursed. Cursed with an imperfection. The imperfection that I am me. I'm too clever for my own good. Too clever to be known without being hated."

"How is that a curse?"

"Because now, no one will ever want to be in the same room with the freak who sees everything."

"Does this have anything to do with have a crush on a boy?" he asks her. She turns her head and glares at him. "I'm just asking, Little Lottie. I'm not right all the time." She sighs and nods her head.

He goes and sits on her bed and brushes away the strands on blonde hair that have fallen in her face. "You think being able to see things that others choose not to makes you miss the mark of perfection." Her eyes are watery. "You also think being imperfect makes you have no chance of ever being with someone because it makes you so much less than the rest of the world." He leans down and kisses her forehead. "You're wrong."

She stares at him for a few moments, and then turns and pulls a pillow over her head. "Yeah, and how would you know?" comes her mumbled question. "You've never been in a relationship."

He sighs, "I may have never been in a relationship, but I know how the heart works." She pulls the pillow off her head to look at him. "I've also learned that there is no such thing as perfection, but there is beauty in everything around you."

"Not in me." she says. "D_reams of beauty, secretly._"

"Yes, Lyra, there's beauty in you too."

She smiles, "Do you think I am?"

"I don't think, I know."

She gets up and wraps her arms around his neck. "Have I ever told you that you're absolutely, positively, amazingly the most awesomest person ever in the whole wide universe, and that you are my bestest friend and that I love you very, very much, Sherlock Holmes?"

"Hmm, I don't know." he jokes. "But I know that I love you too."

He gets up to leave, but she grabs his wrist to stop him.

"Where are you going?" she asks him softly.

"Little Lottie, I've got to go."

"Why?" she asks sadly.

"I didn't want to tell you this yet, but I have to go to uni soon."

"Why didn't you want to tell me?" Her eyes are starting to water again.

He sits back down on her bed. "Because it would hurt." He searches in his pockets for a moment before pulling out the small ring box and putting it in her hand, "I got you this though."

She frowns, "What is it?"

"Open it."

She opens it and sees the little ring with the hands cupping the heart and a crown on top of the heart and gasps. "You got me a claddagh ring?!"

"I'm guessing you know what everything means." Sherlock says. "Enlighten me."

"The hands mean friendship. The crown means loyalty. The heart means love. You wear it with the heart pointing towards you when you belong to someone." She looks up at him. "How did you know I wanted this?"

"You watch 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' religiously. You also made me watch it with you."

She giggles and slips the ring on her finger. Then she hugs Sherlock again.

"I'm going to miss you when you go." she says to him.

"I'll miss you more."

She giggles, "You sure bout that?"

"Positive." He kisses the top of her head. "I know I'm going to need help doing one thing, though."

"And what's that?"

"_Help me say goodbye._"


	3. Masquerade

**A/N: Hillo!**

**Don't really have a lot to say but I might have the next chapter of Puzzle Pieces That Fit Together up before New Year.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Lyra!**

* * *

Masquerade

"Sherlock," Lyra complains into mobile, "please tell me where you are."

"I told you, Little Lottie." He argues. "I'm out shopping for groceries." It's half the truth. He's in a department store looking for a dress akin to something you'd find at a prom.

Lyra scoffs, "Sherlock Holmes, I know you better than anyone else. I know for a fact that you don't do domestic; especially nothing as domestic 'shopping for groceries'."

"But I am shopping!"

She sighs, "Okay, I believe you. I don't believe for one second that you're out grocery shopping, but the shopping is a little bit more believable."

"What other kind of shopping would I be doing then?" her friend asks her.

She giggles, "I don't know. Oh, and why are you in a department store? Actually, why are looking at dresses in a department store?"

"I'm not in..." he starts, but trails off when he sees Lyra a few feet behind him, "... a department store."

She closes her phone and walks over to her friend. "Grocery shopping, huh?" she asks jokingly. "So, I'm guessing you're here getting me a birthday present?"

"How d'you know I'm getting a dress? I could have here to get me another shirt."

She laughs, "Sweetie, I can tell when you're lying. Also, the men's section is over there." she says, as she points behind her. "Am I getting a dress for my twenty-first birthday?"

"Oh," Sherlock smiles, "you're getting a lot more than dress for your twenty-first birthday." He kisses her forehead and spins her around. "Now go finish whatever it was you were doing. I don't want to ruin the surprise."

She grins from ear to ear and walks off, "Bye, Sherlock!" she calls back.

"Bye, Little Lottie!"

~TAOTDMH~

Lyra spends the rest of her day shopping. Mycroft has somehow managed to acquire a job in the British government and gave her some extra money for her birthday. Of course, she just used it to buy new clothes and shoes but, hey, just because she has a brilliant mind doesn't mean she can't have a weakness (shoes!).

She sets her shopping bags down on the floor of the flat she and Sherlock rent.

She moved out the Holmes Manor when she was eighteen and moved to London with her best friend and to be closer to school. She finished school early and now works on cases with Sherlock.

She takes a quick and puts on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt; then she plops down on the sofa and turns of the telly.

It's getting late and she hasn't seen or heard anything from Sherlock. She grabs her phone and sees she has a new message. She breaths a sigh of relief when she sees who sent it. It read:

Won't be home tonight.  
Holmes Manor tomorrow  
at 6:30pm  
SH

She frowns. Why is he not coming home? Is her surprise at the Manor? She smiles at the thought of sherlock's surprise. She realized when she was fourteen shed developed a schoolgirl crush on her best friend. Like soon turned to love and, well, here we are now. She dare not tell him, though. She'd rather suffer through unrequited love than admitting and never hearing or seeing from Sherlock again. Just the thought makes her cringe.

~TAOTDMH~

Lyra wakes up on the sofa a few hours later. She yawns and checks the clock and sees that it's 2:42. She stands and makes her way to her bedroom and collapses on her bed. She pulls a blanket on top of herself.

She sighs thinking about all the possible things Sherlock's surprise could be.

She wakes again and sees the time is 10:36. She stretches and goes through her daily routine: eat breakfast, brush teeth, brush hair, clothes.

She picks her phone up from the kitchen counter where she'd left it night before. She sees another message from Sherlock and reads it.

Bring clothes to  
sleep in and for  
tomorrow.  
SH

She smiles. _I haven't stayed the night at the Manor since I left._ She thinks. _What is Sherlock planning?_

She picks up the shopping bags that are still by her front door takes them to her room.

After packing clothes for her stay, she starts getting ready for her night. It doesn't take long to get to the Manor. It's i. The country so it takes about an hour. She starts getting ready so early because her curly blonde locks take ages to tame.

She finally wins the battle with her hair and picks out one of her new dresses she bought yesterday to wear. She slips it on and pulls on her favourite boots. She then goes to the bathroom and puts on lights makeup.

She hears her phone buzz and searches the flat for she's put it. She finally finds it stuffed between the sofa cushions and reads the ID.

Sherlock

"Hey." she answers.

"You're alright." he breaths a sigh of relief. "I was worried when you didn't pick up after a few rings."

She giggles at his concern, "I'm fine. My phone just slipped between the sofa cushions."

"Okay, good."

"Now, why'd you need to call me?" she asks. "Or did you just want to hear my voice?"

He laughs, "Basically. I also called to tell you I'm on the way home. I would have gotten Mycroft to do this, but I do not trust my brother with my best friend."

She rolls her eyes, "You're driving an hour to come pick me up and then an hour to get back to the same place you left from just because you don't want your brother to be near me?"

"Brilliant deduction, Little Lottie."

She smiles, "When will you be here?" She hears a knock on the door and moves to answer it.

"Right now." Sherlock says when she opens the door.

"You need help with anything?" he asks her.

"No."

"Okay, ready to go?"

She nods her head and grabs her bag. Sherlock grabs it from her and puts it in the boot of the car.

"Do you think you did good with my surprise?" she asks him as they get in the car.

"Oh, I did better." he replies and they drive to the Manor.

~TAOTDMH~

An hour later they arrive. Lyra smiles and starts for the the front door but Sherlock stops her.

"We're going through the back." he says. "You're surprise, well part of your surprise, is in the main hall."

She smiles. How big is her surprise? Sherlock grabs her hand and leads her around to the back entrance of the Manor.

He leads her through the house and to her old room. When he opens her door her eyes widen at the sight of the dress. Now she knows why Sherlock was looking for dresses yesterday. It's beautiful. It's strapless with a full skirt. The material is a beautiful blue silk and there's black lace over the skirt.

"Sherlock... this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" She turns and launches herself in his arms. "You're the best!"

He laughs, "I'm glad you like it. You haven't even seen everything else, though."

She looks around and sees the box containing the black heels. On her vanity she sees the earrings shaped like music notes and the necklace shaped like a treble cleft.

"They're all beautiful, Sherlock."

"Good. I'll let you get ready. I'll come back in about thirty minutes." He leaves after giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

She pulls on the dress, puts on the earrings and necklace, fixes her hair and makeup, and slips on the shoes.

Thirty minutes pass and Sherlock opens her door.

She giggles at him, "You're in a weird shirt." He holds up a masquerade mask and she starts piecing everything together. "You're dressed like Raoul was at the masquerade. Oh my God, Sherlock!"

He grins, "I guess you've deduced your surprise. Now, would you like to see it?"

She nods, her eyes starting to water, and grabs his offered hand. He slips the mask on her and leads her down to the main hall.

"Happy birthday, Lyra Morgan." Sherlock says and kisses the top of her head.

There's streamers everywhere and above the stairs is a banner that reads:

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY LYRA

Everyone is dressed like they're going to prom but with masquerade masks. They all see Lyra and shout together. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LYRA!" then they all start to sing and dance.

_"Masquerade!  
Paper faces on parade . . .  
Masquerade!  
Hide your face,  
so the world will  
never find you!"_

"Come on, Sherlock!" Lyra exclaims, "Let's dance!" and she pulls to the middle of the floor.

_"Masquerade!  
Every face a different shade . . .  
Masquerade!  
Look around -  
there's another  
mask behind you!  
Flash of mauve . . .  
Splash of puce . . .  
Fool and king . . .  
Ghoul and goose . . .  
Green and black . . .  
Queen and priest . . .  
Trace of rouge . . .  
Face of beast . . .  
Faces . . .  
Take your turn, take a ride  
on the merry-go-round . . .  
in an inhuman race . . .  
Eye of gold . . .  
Thigh of blue . . .  
True is false . . .  
Who is who . . .?  
Curl of lip . . .  
Swirl of gown . . .  
Ace of hearts . . .  
Face of clown . . .  
Faces . . .  
Drink it in, drink it up,  
till you've drowned  
in the light . . .  
in the sound . . ._

_"Masquerade!  
Grinning yellows,  
spinning reds . . .  
Masquerade!  
Take your fill -  
let the spectacle  
astound you!  
Masquerade!  
Burning glances,  
turning heads . . .  
Masquerade!  
Stop and stare  
at the sea of smiles  
around you!  
Masquerade!  
Seething shadows  
breathing lies . . .  
Masquerade!  
You can fool  
any friend who  
ever knew you!  
Masquerade!  
Leering satyrs,  
peering eyes . . .  
Masquerade!  
Run and hide -  
but a face will  
still pursue you!_

_"Masquerade!  
Paper faces on parade!  
Masquerade!  
Hide your face,  
so the world will  
never find you!  
Masquerade!  
Every face a different shade!  
Masquerade!  
Look around -  
There's another  
mask behind you!  
Masquerade!  
Burning glances,  
turning heads . . .  
Masquerade!  
Stop and stare  
at the sea of smiles  
around you!  
Masquerade!  
Grinning yellows,  
spinning reds . . .  
Masquerade!  
Take your fill -  
let the spectacle  
astound you."_

They all dance to the music. Some slow and some fast. Lyra never leaves Sherlock's side the woke night.

"This is the best thing ever, Sherlock, thank you." Lyra says while they away to "I Was Lost."

"I'd do anything to make my Little Lottie happy." he says and she smiles.

She kisses his cheek and wraps her arms around his neck.

"I love you very, very much , Sherlock Holmes."

"I love you too. I will always love my best friend."

She smiles sadly. That's not what she meant.


End file.
